US
carried
out madrasah bombing
By Christina Lamb
11/26/06 "The
Times" -- -- THE bombing of a
Pakistani madrasah last month, in which 82 students were
killed, was carried out by the United States, a
Pakistani official has admitted.
The madrasah in the tribal agency of Bajaur was bombed
during a visit to Pakistan by the Prince of Wales amid
allegations that it was being used to train suicide
bombers.
“We thought it would be less damaging if we said we did
it rather than the US,” said a key aide to President
Pervez Musharraf. “But there was a lot of collateral
damage and we’ve requested the Americans not to do it
again.”
The Americans are believed to have attacked after a
tip-off that Ayman al-Zawahiri, the deputy leader of
Al-Qaeda, was present. Local people claimed the victims
included boys as young as 12 and that the tribal area
had been negotiating with the Pakistan government for a
peace deal.
Pakistani officials insist they were shown satellite
images of people training and have checked the identity
cards of all those killed, and that all were adults.
Copyright 2006 Times Newspapers Ltd.
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